In connection with my previous despatches regarding our somewhat complicated mines the British Admiralty have concentrated on the last construction of mines to such an extent that they now anticipate that by August the output will reach 1oooo a month.their facilities for mine laying are about 7ooo a month maximum. They consider it unwise, from their previous experience with mine similar to those which we now have on hand, to attempt to utilize our present available supply. They now consider in view of the above and as our output of a different type of mine could not be available in sufficient time, that we can more profitably concentrate on other work.

Source Note: Cy, DNA, RG45, Entry 517. Below the close is the notation “Received from State Department – 6326-le2.5/745 conf.” and a list of recipients in a vertical column: “McKean/Buord/Marvell/Secnav/Astnav/CNO.” Beside this list is typed “ma” which is presumably the initials of the typist. Capt. Josiah S. McKean and Capt. George R. Marvell worked in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), William S. Benson; “Astnav” stands for “Assistant Secretary of the Navy,” which was Franklin D. Roosevelt; “Buord” refers to the Bureau of Ordnance, the Navy’s organization responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of naval weapons. Its Chief during World War I was RAdm. Ralph Earle.